[Archived] Sam Allardyce

[John]

I can't actually believe we finshed 10th.

What a tremdendous job Sam is doing.

[martmitch]

I can't actually believe we finshed 10th.

What a tremdendous job Sam is doing.

agree, I had my hopes pinned on us coming 10th to mark a good season and am delighted what we have achieved, people are full of praise for roy hodgeson, perhaps a few in the media should be praising sam also

[Tom]

What a difference 5 months makes eh? Call me fickle as you like it's part of my right as a footy fan.

[speeeeeeedie]

Great job Sam! Something must have happend in dressing room at Eastlands. The team was totally different after that and played for Sam as a team.

Agreed, something needed to change, and did, after that diabolical performance.

[47er]

What a difference 5 months makes eh? Call me fickle as you like it's part of my right as a footy fan.

And the club is therefore right to ignore you!

Yes and if you read my post you'll actually see that even then I say it is a "long-standing gripe of mine with several of our managers". The one who changed our attitude was Hughes, that was until he lost interest.

OK--fair enough. Don't agree with you though. Pointless to talk of top 4 when we all know we have no chance. Best to be realistic.

[Tom]

I never did anythng for the club to ignore, I moaned a bit on this messageboard when times where at their worst but that's it. As I've said before surely thats the way to go about it, moan in the pub etc support in the stands.

But in general you are right and thankfully our board are less quick to panic than a lot of fans

[Eddie]

OK--fair enough. Don't agree with you though. Pointless to talk of top 4 when we all know we have no chance. Best to be realistic.

I'm not asking for him to go out and say that we are aiming for it, but don't dismiss it out of hand. He's not even just ruling that out, but limited us to 8th or worse and ruled out any "major" trophies. I'm not exactly sure what major means, but we have several FA and League Cup semi-finals under our belts in the past decade to go along with one actual trophy, not to mention a couple of top 6 finishes. The turnaround in the team of the last few months has been fantastic and he deserves a lot of credit, but hopefully the talk within the club will always be about improving and aiming higher. Maybe it won't happen, it probably won't happen, but just go for it and remain positive. Nothing good can come from publicly talking down the club.

[Harry Balls]

Didn't I say all along that Sam would lead us to a top 10 finish.

I all seriousness though, I think most of the criticism leveled at Sam is still valid. Having said that, we've finished joint top of our mini-league, done the double over our two biggest rivals and blooded several youngsters along the way. In my opinion, this should be enough for Sam's critics, myself included, to finally give the guy a fair chance. That's not to say I won't be partial to a moan from time to time - as a football fan, surely that's my prerogative. However, given what we have achieved with the lack of resources at out disposal, the manager deserves our support and I hope that he gets it from herein.

I'm absolutely delighted with how we've finished the season. In fact, I think it's probably fair to say that I've got a bigger smile on my face right now than most Chelsea fans. Hopefully the board will back Sam in the transfer market this summer and we'll be treated to another season as the small town club who nobody likes but everybody fears.

Onwards and upwards.

[thenodrog]

I'm absolutely delighted with how we've finished the season. In fact, I think it's probably fair to say that I've got a bigger smile on my face right now than most Chelsea fans. Hopefully the board will back Sam in the transfer market this summer and we'll be treated to another season as the small town club who nobody likes but everybody fears.

Onwards and upwards.

Can't see that happening it'd be plain daft. 2oth century football management.

It's much more imp to back him in the Wage Dept.

[Bobby G]

Achievements this season:

1) Stabilizing the club which was still shaking from the roots from the shambles of early last season.

2) Winning over a lot of his doubters by the turn of form we had in 2010.

3) Great home form.

4) Finally regaining belief that we can at least avoid defeat against the "Big Four".

5) Cup Semi-final

6) Bringing through youngsters such as Olsson, Jones, Junior, Nzonzi and now Hanley.

7) Finishing 10th on a negative spending spree ahead of big spenders such as Sunderland.

I was a supporter of Sam until the run of form which made me think that he was a dead man walking with or without 1 or 2 wins. However, he turned it around, instilled belief and won the dressing room back. No one can complain. The football is so much better than early on in the season and we can say that confidence has a lot to do with it too. I've also noticed when Pedersen doesnt play the long throws and route one is considerably less, so maybe him leaving would have a knock-on effect on that too.

[47er]

Achievements this season:

1) Stabilizing the club which was still shaking from the roots from the shambles of early last season.

2) Winning over a lot of his doubters by the turn of form we had in 2010.

3) Great home form.

4) Finally regaining belief that we can at least avoid defeat against the "Big Four".

5) Cup Semi-final

6) Bringing through youngsters such as Olsson, Jones, Junior, Nzonzi and now Hanley.

7) Finishing 10th on a negative spending spree ahead of big spenders such as Sunderland.

I was a supporter of Sam until the run of form which made me think that he was a dead man walking with or without 1 or 2 wins. However, he turned it around, instilled belief and won the dressing room back. No one can complain. The football is so much better than early on in the season and we can say that confidence has a lot to do with it too. I've also noticed when Pedersen doesnt play the long throws and route one is considerably less, so maybe him leaving would have a knock-on effect on that too.

Givet can throw it in at least as good as Pedersen anyway.

[Hughesy]

BIG SAMS BLUE N WHITE ARMY

THE FUTURES BRIGHT - THE FUTURES BLUE N WHITE

[roversmum]

I can't find Sam's comments referred to, but this article made me laugh!

They aren't going to change, are they? Still as annoying (and deluded) as ever

[OscarRaven]

BIG SAMS BLUE N WHITE ARMY

THE FUTURES BRIGHT - THE FUTURES BLUE N WHITE

We heard you the first time. Just becuase the page changes it doesn't mean you have to post AGAIN.

50 posts before lunch, your a sad case.

[Hughesy]

I can't find Sam's comments referred to, but this article made me laugh!

They aren't going to change, are they? Still as annoying (and deluded) as ever

They Sacked him & went down....we employed him & stayed up.

This season they won the Coca Cola league - we finished 10th in the top division - says it all really!

Oscar - the post count goes off the last 24 hours you muppet....most of them were made during yesterdays game or just after!

[roversmum]

We have got to thrash them next season. The list is getting longer ... haha!

[mhead]

All we can look for on our financial backing is small,incremental improvement. This year we got almost too much improvement....since Aston Villa away in the Carling Cup.And another 10 to 15% next season -another Striker,more experience in Midfield and a more dynamic(younger) squad might just win us a Cup. Cannot see us finishing much higher than 10th though.

Its a heartfelt THANKS to Big Sam.

Hope it helps with Season Tickets.

[Rovermatt]

Nice article in today's Guardian.

[Gav]

So the season is now over, and low and behold we managed to finish in the lofty heights of 10th position, something I still can’t believe after early season form.

Allardyce deserves all the credit in the world for his achievements this season.

Limited budget, problem players and packs of wolves in the stands, the guy has done a fantastic job to reach 10th and I for one can hold my hands up and say so.

His dealings in the transfer market have been great, and I hope JW tries to find those extra funds to possibly take us to the next level and challenge for a European place, but I can’t see that happening on a major scale.

He now has a side that’s a good mixture of youth and experience and next season could be even better given a fair crack of the whip.

Well done Sam.

I need a lye down now

[tonyoz]

I still look forward to getting up in the middle of the night to watch the Rovers play so Sam must be doing something right I guess. I didn't always feel like that when Bentley and Santa Cruz were strutting their stuff - sometimes those games were turgid.

The most impressive things about this season from my point of view are:

We are hard to beat at home and gave the top 4 a proper game for the first time in years. The players seem to be enjoying their football again and this has created a stage where young players could be blooded effectively. I think the senior players can take a lot of credit for this but Sam has set the tone and as a result we have several very young players who have made the "step-up" successfully. I don't think the importance of this can be over-estimated. This is one of the ways we can fight back against more wealthy clubs and still hold our own. Let's hope there's a budding striker hiding in there somewhere!

I would like to see more neat, ambitious football at times but we can still produce this in bursts when Sam takes the shackles off.

With a decent striker the situation would be different......Sam has made this his first priority but he needs some luck.........another Benni or Santa Cruz would do nicely. Let's hope I don't get much sleep next season.

[OscarRaven]

Oscar - the post count goes off the last 24 hours you muppet....most of them were made during yesterdays game or just after!

Silly me, only 50 posts in 24 hours. Thats normal isn't it?

What's your daily drivel count (average?): 40 Posts? Sad Case and you know it.

[Hughesy]

Silly me, only 50 posts in 24 hours. Thats normal isn't it?

What's your daily drivel count (average?): 40 Posts? Sad Case and you know it.

4.79 per day - Check the profile.

What's sad about posting on a supporters forum about the team you support?? People post on plenty of other places, such as Twitter, Facebook etc - its the way life is now!

[duffbear]

Was speaking to former Rovers striker Kevin Gallagher on Monday night and asked him about Big Sam and he said he is not a fan of his tactics and it has stopped him attending some games as he has not enjoyed it when he has gone. He also mentioned that most of the players dont enjoy playing that way. I mentioned it seemed to suit Dunn and he said it was because he is good enough to play that way.

I also asked him about Pederson lets just say he is not a fan and he would not be sad to see him go. He also said Morten is the type of player that needs an arm putting round him. I also asked about rumours he has problems with his knees and he said he does not believe that is true.

I asked him about Kalnic and he said he is a big fan of his and belives he will be a great striker for Rovers but is not ideally suited to being up front on his own.

[Hughesy]

Did you remind him that we finished 10th with those horrible tactics?!

[unluckymorton]

Was speaking to former Rovers striker Kevin Gallagher on Monday night and asked him about Big Sam and he said he is not a fan of his tactics and it has stopped him attending some games as he has not enjoyed it when he has gone. He also mentioned that most of the players dont enjoy playing that way. I mentioned it seemed to suit Dunn and he said it was because he is good enough to play that way.

I also asked him about Pederson lets just say he is not a fan and he would not be sad to see him go. He also said Morten is the type of player that needs an arm putting round him. I also asked about rumours he has problems with his knees and he said he does not believe that is true.

I asked him about Kalnic and he said he is a big fan of his and belives he will be a great striker for Rovers but is not ideally suited to being up front on his own.

I'd have reminded Gally that many of us work for successful businesses but don't always agree with the boss, don't always enjoy our time at work and are not always 100% happy with the way things are done but we get our heads down and graft 5 days a week.